Gemotions

"No, no, no, this can't be happening," Marcus muttered, his voice barely a breath against the rhythmic clatter of the keyboard. He stared at the screen, the lines of code a jumbled mess of familiarity and betrayal. He’d spent countless hours coding this program, the culmination of his life’s dedication, only to find someone had created the exact same thing.

He felt a searing heat bloom in his chest, spreading to his extremities. His fingers fumbled, the cursor jumping erratically across the screen. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He slammed his fist on the desk. The monitor flickered, then went black.

He scrambled to turn it back on, but his hands wouldn’t cooperate. He could barely breathe. He needed to understand how, why. He had to know.